Tube and emptying apparatus

ABSTRACT

A tube having a cylindrical tube body, an end wall closing off one end of the body, and a dispensing nipple disposed on the end wall coaxially to the axis of the tube body. The end wall has at least one portion weakened by reduced wall thickness or reduced material hardness so that two parts of the end wall may be collapsed onto one another for completely emptying the tube. For emptying a tube, an apparatus is provided which has a trough-shaped casing for accommodating the tube and a squeezing body movable within the casing. The casing surrounds the tube through an angle of more than 180° and has a longitudinal slot for manually moving the squeezing body.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This patent application is a U.S. National Phase of International PatentApplication No. PCT/EP2011/005693, filed 11 Nov. 2011, which claimspriority to German Patent Application No. 10 2010 050 941.8, filed 11Nov. 2010; German Patent Application No. 10 2011 014 276.2, filed 17Mar. 2011; and German Patent Application No. 10 2011 100 363.4, filed 3May 2011, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by referencein their entirety.

FIELD

Conventional tubes, such as used for packing tooth pastes, creams,paste-like foodstuffs and the like, usually have a circularcross-section and may have a coaxial dispensing nipple formed at a stiffand comparatively thick-walled connecting portion at the front end, andare at the rear end pinched and sealed by a diametrically extending weldor fold. A disadvantage of such tubes resides in the fact that theycannot be emptied completely.

BACKGROUND

U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,119 B1 discloses a tube having a cylindrical tubebody, an end wall closing off one end of the body, and a dispensingnipple disposed on the end wall coaxially to the axis of the tube body,wherein the end wall has at least one weakened portion, so that twoparts of the end wall may be collapsed onto one another for completelyemptying the tube. The end wall of which consists of two symmetric partsof different stiffness, the stiffer part being provided with adispensing nipple, which is offset from the tube axis and extends at anangle thereto. When being emptied, this tube can be collapsed up to theregion of the end wall and thereby emptied almost completely. Due to theeccentric disposition and oblique extension of the dispensing nipple,the known tube requires special provisions and tools in manufacturingand filling, and its handing by the user does not correspond to that ofusual tubes. More particularly, the following difficulties exist:

The manufacture of a tube from aluminium with an eccentric dispensingnipple is impeded by flow problems of the aluminium material.

Existing production lines for making tubes with centered dispensingnipples are complex and automated, and manufacturing steps such aspainting, threading, etc. must be taken into account. Extensive changesare necessary for adaptation to tubes with eccentric dispensing nipples.

Extrusion tools for making tubes with eccentric dispensing nipples aremore expensive than those for tubes with centered dispensing nipples.

Special closures must be designed for eccentric dispensing nipples.

The eccentricity requires changes at the filling plants of customers.

To avoid such disadvantages as occur with prior art tubes, a tube isdesired which has a shape corresponding to that of conventional tubesbut which can be emptied more completely.

SUMMARY

Disclosed embodiments provide a tube having a cylindrical tube body, anend wall closing off one end of the body, and a dispensing nippledisposed on the end wall coaxially to the axis of the tube body, whereinthe end wall has at least one weakened portion, so that two parts of theend wall may be collapsed onto one another for completely emptying thetube, wherein the transition between a weakened portion and anon-weakened portion of the end wall extends along a folding linesubstantially tangential to the dispensing nipple. In accordance withthe disclosed embodiments, a practically complete collapsing in thefinal emptying phase of the tube and thus a reduction of the residualvolume can be accomplished even with a symmetric tube.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Disclosed embodiments will be described in more detail below withreference to the drawings, in which:

FIGS. 1 to 4 are front views of tubes of different disclosedembodiments;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are longitudinal sections through the dispensing end ofthe tubes shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 in the initial condition and in theemptied condition, respectively;

FIG. 7 is a front view of a tube according to another disclosedembodiment;

FIGS. 8 and 9 are longitudinal sections through the dispensing end ofthe tube shown in FIG. 7 in the initial condition and in the emptiedcondition, respectively;

FIGS. 10 and 11 are front views of tubes according to further disclosedembodiments;

FIGS. 12 and 13 are a side view and, respectively, a longitudinalsection through the dispensing end of the tube shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 14 is a cross-section through a tube according to another disclosedembodiment;

FIGS. 15 and 16 are front views of the dispensing end of tubes accordingto further disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 17 is a longitudinal section through the dispensing end of anothertube;

FIG. 18 is a longitudinal section through a tube emptying apparatus;

FIGS. 19 to 21 are cross-sections through different disclosedembodiments of tube emptying apparatus, wherein the tube is shown fullin FIG. 19 and emptied in FIG. 20;

FIGS. 22 to 25 are a front view, a perspective view, a plan view, and alongitudinal section of a tube emptying apparatus; and

FIG. 26 is a perspective view of a dispensing nipple.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSED EMBODIMENTS

The tubes illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 6 consist of a flexible tube body 1,with an end wall 2 having a coaxial dispensing nipple formed on orattached to the tube body 1. At the rear end (not shown), the tube body1 is pinched and sealed by a diametrically extending weld or fold.

In the disclosed embodiments, the end wall 2 consists of twosubstantially complementary conical calotte shaped end wall portions 4and 5 of which the upper end wall portion 4, which is more flexibleelastically or plastically due to a smaller wall thickness or smallermaterial hardness, will tightly abut the lower end wall portion 5 in thefinal phase of the emptying process, as shown in FIG. 6. In thedrawings, it had been assumed that the weaker portion 4 has a wallthickness b4, which is reduced as compared to the wall thickness b5 ofthe stiffer portion 5. The wall thickness b4 may be equal to or smallerthan the wall thickness b1 of the tube body 1.

In FIGS. 1 to 4, the upper and more flexible end wall portion 4 is showncrosshatched. The transition between the portions 4 and 5 forms afolding line 6 which, according to FIGS. 3 and 4, extends tangentiallyto the dispensing nipple 3 and, according to FIGS. 1 and 2, slightlyintersects therewith. In any case, the folding line 6 extends“substantially” tangential to the dispensing nipple 3. In the disclosedembodiments of FIGS. 2 and 4, the folding line has two portions, whichon the side of the dispensing nipple enclose an angle 2α of less that180°. In each case, the dispensing nipple 3 is formed on the stiffer endwall portion 5.

A perfect folding of the end wall portions 4 and 5 into one anotherbecomes possible if at least the upper half of the dispensing nipple 3adjoining the portion 4 is also elastically or plastically flexible. Tothis end, the upper wall portion 7 of the dispensing nipple 3 isweakened. The weakening may be provided on the inner side of thedispensing nipple 3, as shown in FIG. 8, or on the outer side thereof.

Instead of the conical calotte shape of the end wall 2 or end wallportions 4, 5 assumed in the embodiments disclosed above, other shapesare possible, specifically spherical calottes of irregular shapes. Whatmatters is that one end wall portion has such an overall shape that bothportions can be complementarily folded into one another.

In the disclosed embodiment of FIGS. 7 to 9, the entire end wall 2 (wallthickness b3) is uniformly weakened as compared to conventional tubes inwhich the end wall is stiffer than the tube body. Alternatively, theweakening may reside in weakened portions 8 that are sector-shaped asshown in FIG. 10, or star-shaped as shown in FIGS. 11 to 13. Asillustrated in FIG. 10, the weakened portions 8 may be curved, and theyare not required to extend radially toward the tube axis.

As shown in FIG. 12, the weakened portions 8 form recesses on the outerside of the end wall 2. This gives the tube a characteristic appearance,which is recognisable from the outside, and the desired completeemptying is not impaired by an internal unevenness of the end wall 2.

For the tubes of FIGS. 7 to 13 it is essential that a wall portion 7 ofthe dispensing nipple 3 adjoining the end wall 2 be weakened (wallthickness b6) as shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 13. Also in this case, the tubebody 1 may be collapsed down to the unavoidable volume inside thedispensing nipple 3.

While tubes with circular-cylindrical tube bodies have been assumed inFIGS. 1 to 13, the tubes shown in FIGS. 14 to 16 have cross-sectionsformed by arcs of circles which are symmetric to the longitudinal axis,i.e. lanceolate (FIG. 14) or oval (FIG. 15), or composed of arcs ofcircles and straight lines (FIG. 16). As also indicated in FIGS. 14 to16, the orifice 9 of the dispensing nipple 3 may be circular or have ashape other that circular (elliptic, oblong, star-shaped) or consist ofan arrangement of circular or otherwise shaped individual openings.

FIG. 17 further shows that, instead of the cylindrical shape assumed inFIGS. 1 to 13, the dispensing nipple 3 may be conical or may have anotch 10 or a rib for catching a closure cap.

The tube emptying apparatus shown in FIGS. 18 to 26 comprises atrough-shaped casing 21 for accommodating a tube here designated by 20,and a squeezing body 22, which is movable within the casing. The casing21 surrounds the tube 20 by an angle of more than 180° and has alongitudinal slot 23 for manually moving the squeezing body 22. Thelongitudinal slot 23 is limited by flanges 24 attached to the casing 21or formed integrally therewith (FIG. 21), which flanges 24 retain thesqueezing body 22 within the trough-shaped casing and prevent it fromaccidentally rolling back. In the representation of FIG. 19, the tube 20is assumed to have the cross-section shown in FIG. 14.

The squeezing body 22 is a roll in the form of a sphere if the tube endwall 2 has the circular calotte shape shown in FIG. 18. In this case,the end wall 25 of the casing 21 is also spherical. In the case of theconical calotte shape shown in FIGS. 1 to 13, the squeezing body 22 hasthe shape of a double cone in order to press the folded tube 20 tightlyagainst the likewise conical inner surface of the casing end wall 25.

An elastic padding 26 is provided on the bottom of the trough-shapedcasing 21 to compensate any fold or unevenness in the tube 20, therebycontributing to its complete emptying. The lower side of the casing 21has a magnetic base 27 with a plane bottom to permit the casing to besafely placed on a support and fixed thereto if necessary.

The end wall 25 of the casing 21 has a hole for passing the dispensingnipple 3 of the tube 20. A dispensing nozzle 28 may be screwed onto theportion of the dispensing nipple 3 projecting from the hole by means ofan inner thread (not shown). The nozzle may have a conical or othershape, such as that of a prism as shown in FIG. 26.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

1 tube body

2 end wall

3 dispensing nipple

4 softer end wall portion

5 stiffer end wall portion

6 folding line

7 wall portion of dispensing nipple 3

8 weakened portions

9 orifice

10 notch

20 tube

21 casing

22 squeezing body

23 longitudinal slot

24 flanges

25 end wall of casing 21

26 elastic padding

27 base

28 dispensing nozzle

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 19. A tube comprising: acylindrical tube body, an end wall closing off one end of the body, anda dispensing nipple disposed on the end wall coaxially to an axis of thetube body, wherein the end wall has at least one weakened portion, sothat two parts of the end wall may be collapsed onto one another forcompletely emptying the tube, and wherein a transition between the atleast one weakened portion and a non-weakened portion of the end wallextends along a folding line substantially tangential to the dispensingnipple.
 20. The tube of claim 19, wherein the weakening resides in areduced thickness and/or a reduced hardness of the end wall portion. 21.The tube of claim 19, wherein a portion of the dispensing nippleadjoining the end wall is weakened.
 22. The tube of claim 19, whereinthe folding line has two sections which enclose an angle of less than180° on the side of the dispensing nipple.
 23. The tube of claim 19,wherein the entire end wall is weakened.
 24. The tube of claim 19,wherein the end wall has star-shaped or sector-shaped weakened portions.25. The tube of claim 19, wherein the weakened portions form recesses onthe outer side of the end wall.
 26. The tube of claim 19, wherein theshape of tube body has an elliptical cross-section or is formed of arcsof circles which are symmetric to the axis of the tube body.
 27. Thetube of claim 19, wherein the dispensing nipple has a non-circularopening or an arrangement of openings.
 28. The tube of claim 19, whereinthe dispensing nipple tapers in the dispensing direction.
 29. Anapparatus for emptying a tube, the apparatus comprising: a trough-shapedcasing for accommodating the tube which has a cylindrical tube body, anend wall closing off one end of the body, and a dispensing nippledisposed on the end wall, wherein the end wall has at least one weakenedportion so that two parts of the end wall may be collapsed onto oneanother for completely emptying the tube; and a squeezing body movablewithin the casing.
 30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the casingsurrounds the tube by an angle of more than 180° and has a longitudinalslot for manually moving the squeezing body.
 31. The apparatus of claim30, wherein the casing has two flanges limiting the longitudinal slotfor retaining the squeezing body.
 32. The apparatus of claim 29, havingan elastic padding in the casing for supporting the tube.
 33. Theapparatus of claim 29, having a dispensing nozzle for receiving thedispensing nipple of the tube.
 34. The apparatus of claim 33, whereinthe dispensing nozzle has an internal thread adapted to be screwed ontothe dispensing nipple of the tube.
 35. The apparatus of claim 29,wherein the casing has a plane magnetic base.